FREE LIL BOOSIE!

Over the past two years the state of Louisiana has waged a relentless attack against Baton Rouge rapper and local-Louisiana hero Torrence "Lil Boosie" Hatch.  Most known for the 2006 hits "Zoom" and "Wipe Me Down" the DIY, self-made rapper was keeping a low profile and living with his family in Baton Rouge until 2009 when he was caught with marijuana and had a parole violation. Following standard Louisiana procedure, the judge forced upon him a draconian sentence of 10-years in prison. But the deranged courts wouldn't stop there. Just as he began his prison sentence, the vindictive District Attorney of East Baton Rouge, Hillar Moore, sought an even more severe punishment for Boosie. Leading a veritable lynch mob, Moore obtained a confession from an alleged hit-man already doing life in prison who said that Boosie had ordered the assassinations of two of his victims. Now Moore is publicly boasting of the possibility of the death-sentence for Boosie if he is convicted of the charge of first-degree murder.

Of course there is no real credibility to the allegations of a man who, in exchange for his testimony, was given the opportunity to not die in prison. Furthermore, Boosie's attorney claims that Hillar Moore manufactured the murder charge just 10 days after having been exposed to a song by Boosie where Moore was specifically noted for being a bastard. Moore obviously has a personal bias against Boosie, yet the rules meant to protect defendants from such a situation are conveniently being ignored and Moore is not being removed from the case.

We aren’t defending Boosie because he’s famous. We’re not even defending him because he’s innocent. We’re defending him because he's a prisoner of social war who has maintained his integrity in the hood and relentlessly said fuck the pigs til the day he was locked up (see his single Devils, released while waiting to go to jail). We recognize that because of his outspokeness Boosie is a target for racists who wish to set a new precedent by putting a rapper of his caliber to death, sending the message that the lives of hood-rich rappers have no value in their society. We also recognize that because Boosie has chosen to stay real to a certain gangster persona by singing about the reality of the ghetto in less than politically correct terms, there has been virtually no moral outrage over his being railroaded from any of the supposedly moralistic Left.

Most recent picture of Boosie, tweeted from Angola in May.
Boosie has been on 23-hour lockdown for almost a year now. 

Fortunately, Boosie has a strong and determined support group consisting of family and friends that are completely dedicated to seeing him free. Among his outspokenly supportive friends are Young Jeezy and Juvenile, though you can bet that to some extent the whole Dirty South is rooting for his release. His 9-year old daughter Iviona Hatch has also just released a touching bounce-jam about all the positive things that her daddy and momma taught her, with the sole purpose of raising money for Boosie's legal fees. Check out her single here, and Boosie's support site here.

Boosie's baby girl, Iviona with family and friends.

People can show their solidarity in many ways. Send Boosie a letter in Angola Prison (his address is on the support site), buy a Boosie Justice T-shirt, or go to one of the Boosie benefits that Iviona's playing at, they're sure to be amazing. But don't forget that solidarity also means attack. When Boosie and Lil Wayne were arrested within days of eachother in 2009, in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the monumental anarchist Battle in Seattle a group of pissed off people overtook Canal Street in downtown New Orleans to protest their incarcerations. With banners reading, "FREE LIL WAYNE! FREE LIL BOOSIE! FREE ALL PRISONERS!" and, "END POVERTY: SMASH THE PRISONS!", they blasted Lil Wayne and Lil Boosie's music from a mobile sound system while throwing up graffiti on walls and getting in several altercations with the pigs. Although these bold acts of rage are few and far between in New Orleans right now, they will have the irreversible of effect of toppling the prisons and winning against the cops as soon as they are generalized. Only then will attacks against the disenfranchised cease.

So next time the cops attack and you have to take to the streets, let the thought of Lil Boosie's imprisonment fuel your rage, and maybe even blast some of his music if you've got a sound system:

Also check out:

Mind of a Maniac

Dress In All Black

Dirty World

Devils